Mowing machine



A. s. CHRISTENSEN. MOWING MACHINE FILED JUNE 14, 1921 3 SHEETSSHEET I- 3SHEETS-SHEET 2- A. S. CHRISTENSEN. MOWING MACHINE. FILED JUNE 14. 192:.

Mar. 27, 1923.

/wewt0z rca Mommas 3 SHEETSSHEET 3- A. S. CHRISTENSEN. MOWING MACHINEFILED JUNE 14. 1921.

Mar. 27, 1923.

. anpentoz I A5. c/mazemm Witness Patented Mar. 27, 1923.

UNIE ST AUGUST S. CHRISTENSEN, OF RESERVE, MONTANA.

MOWING MACHINE.

Application filed June 14, 1921. Serial No. 477,506.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUST S. CHRIs- TENSEN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Reserve, in the county of Sheri clan and State ofMontana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in MowingMachines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved mowing machine and one object ofthe in-' vention is to provide a mowing machine having improved fingerbar operatlng means by means of which the finger bar may be verticallyadjusted and held in the proper position with respect to the ground andto further so construct this finger bar operating means that the bar maybeheld at the proper height and further vertlcally tilted and thusadjusted for angle and further permitted of being swung upwardly out ofthe rocks and other obstructions in a field.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved actuating meansfor imparting reciprocating movement to the blade carrying bar.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for tiltingthe shoe at the inner end of the finger bar so that this shoe may beheld in the proper position for moving readily across a field.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved arrangements ofcontrol levers for the mechanism for adjusting the position and angle ofthe finger bar.

Another object of the invention is to provide a driving'mechanism forthe blade carrying bar which will be very effective in operation and notliable to readily break or get out of order.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means forpivotally mountin the shoe this means consistin of a frame pivotallyconnected with or suspended from the main axle of the mowing machine andserving as means for carrying certain of the mechanism; for adjustingthe position and angle of the finger bar.

This invention is illustrated in the'a'ccompanying drawings. wherein:

Figure lis a view showing the improved machine intop plan.

ciprocating movement to the knife carrying bar.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective vlew showing a portion of thelever element of Fig. 5 and a rotary driving element having operativeengagement with the lever element.

This improved mowing machine is provided with a frame structureincluding. a sleeve 1 loosely mounted upon a drive shaft or axle 2 whichcarries wheels 3. A conventional pawl and ratchet drive connection, notshown but enclosed in housings ,8, is provided between the wheels andthe drive shaft so that the wheels may rotate the shaft when turningfowardly but may not impart rotary movement to the shaft when turning vrea-rwardly. An internally toothed gear 4 is keyed upon this shaft andit will thus be seen that the gear 4 will be rotated with the shaft 2. Ahousing 5 is carried by this sleeve 1 and is provided with a sidebearing 6 through which extends a shaft 7 upon the. outer end of whichis mounted a gear 8 having engagement with the teeth of the gear 4. Agear 9 is loosely mounted upon this shaft 7 within the housing 5 and itis provided at one end o-f'its hub 10 with. clutch teeth for engagementby the teeth of a clutch element 11 keyed upon theshaft 7. This. clutchelement is provided with an ,actuating handle 12 sothat the clutch maybe thrown into and out of an operative position and rotation of the gear9 controlled. A

loo

shaft 13 is journaled in a bearing 14 carried by the housing as shown inFig. 3 and this purpose to b'e hereinafter there has been provided aplatform 18 which is pivotally connected with the sleeve as in dicatedat 19. This platform 18 carries the drivers seat 20 and also carries thetongue 21 which extends forwardly of the platform. A bracket 22 issecured to the underface of this tongue and slidably carries a casting23 With which the evener 24 is pivotally connected. This casting isprovided with an eye at its rear end as shown clearly in Fig. 2 andcarries a draft chain 25 which extends rearwardly and is connected witha bar 26 intermediate the length of the bar. This bar has its upper endportion formed into a pin extension which passes throughan openingformed in the tongue extension-of a bracket 27 mounted upon the tongue21 to the rear of the bracket 22 but connected with the upper facethereof instead of the lower face.

The finger bar 28 is carried by a shoe 29 and carries the usualblade-carrying bar 30 upon which are mounted the blades which areprotected by the guard fingers 31'. This shoe 29 is provided with aground-engaging runner 32 which has its forward end portion'connectedwith theshoe and has its rear end portion adjustably connected with theupturned end portion 33 of the shoe by means of a bolt 34 which passesthrough a longitudinally extending slot formed in a plate 35 pivotallyconnected with the runner. It will thus be seen that by properadjustment, the runner can be held the desired distance beneath'the shoeand the shoe positioned in the proper spaced relation to the groundengaged by the runner. Ears 36 extend upwardly from the shoe 29 and areprovided with openings to receive bolts which connect the yoke-37 withthe shoe. These bolts 38 serve as pivot pins thus permitting the sicklebar to be swung upwardly to a raised-position.

In order to permitthe sickle bar to be tilted for cutting at a desiredangle, there has been provided a frame 39 provided with a center plate40 and side rods 41 and 42 to which the center plate-is securelyclamped. The center plate is provided with a side extension includinghinge ears 40 and the side rod 42 hasits forward end portion extendingthrough -these -hinge ears and through the base portion of a short arm43 which extends upwardly from the yoke 37. The rod 41extends-longitudinally of the machine'but the r'od;42- extendsdiagonally of the same and has-its rearend' portion bent to extendparallel to the r'od:41 so that the rearend portions of these-two rodsmay be passed through depending socket-members 44 carried by the sleeve*1. Securing nuts 41 and 42' will then be put inv place and'the framewillfbe securely connected with the sleeve. This sleeve carries asupport 45 upon which i =mounted afracki4fihaving connected therewith alatch lever 47. A rod 48 is carried by this latch lever 47 and connectedwith the upstanding arm 43 of the yoke so that when the latch lever isadjusted upon its base or rack 46, the shoe and sickle bar may be tiltedvertically in a direction longitudinally of the mowing'macl'iine. Atongue 49 extends forwardly from the yoke 37 and is provided with anopening which receives the lower end of the bar 26. Since the casting 23is slidably mounted and the evener is carried by this casting, the draftwill be directly applied to the bar 26 and thus the cutting mechanismwill be more firmly braced and further side strain prevented.

In order to permit the sickle bar to be swung upwardly transversely ofthe mowing machine there has been provided mechanism which will now bedescribed. This mechanism is so constructed that the sickle bar may beten'iporarily swung upwardly ashort distance and then released or may beswung upwardly to a greater extent and releasably locked in the raisedposition or may be swung upwardly the full extent and secured in thisraised position. It will thus be seen that by means of the mechanismreferred to, the sickle bar may be temporarily raised a slight amount orit may be raised a greater amount and releasably locked so that a turnmay be readily made or it may be swung up to the full extent and lockedin the raised position so that the machine may be readily moved from onefield to another or from one portion of a field to another with outdanger of the finger bar striking obstructions. In order to permit thefinger bar to be swung upwardly the full extent. there has been provideda lever 50 which is piv otally connected with a rack base 51, the rackportion of which is provided with a smooth arcuate upper edge havingabutment lugs at its ends and adjacent its rear end provided with anotch 52 to receive the latch of this latch lever. An arm 53 extendsforwardly from the lower portion of this latch lever and is connectedwith a rod 54 which extends over the yoke 37 and is connected with. therear arm 36 of the shoe 29. From an inspection of Fig. 1, it will beseen that this lug is positioned outside the yoke 37 so that upward pullupon the rod 54 will llu tend to swing the sickle bar upwardly. 'By

moving the latch lever 50 rearwardly, the

sickle bar is swung upwardly to a raised position and as soon as thelatch of this lever enters the notch 52. the sickle bar will be retainedin the raised position. A

pin 50 extends from the lever and passesthrough the slot 55 formed inthe link 56 which extends rearwardly from the lever and is looselyconnected with the rearwardly extending arm of the rocker shaft 57.Thi'srocker shaft is journalled in a bearing 58 which is mounted uponthe plate 40 to one" side of the base 51 which is also mounted upon thisplate as shown in Fig. 3 and this rocker shaft is provided with aforwardly extending arm 57 having loose connection with a rod 58 whichis carried by the forwardly extending arm 59 of the plate 60. This plate60 is pivotally carried by a base 61 which includes a rack 62 similar inconstruction to the rack 51 and engaged by the pawl of the latch. lever63 carried by the plate 60. This latch 62 is provided with abutments atits ends and is provided with a notch 64 adjacent its rear end toreceive the pawl of the latch lever. WVhen the r latch lever is movedrearwardly' its full extent, the latch will enter this notch and theplate 60 will be held in a tilted position with the rocker shaft rotatedto draw upon the link 56 and thus move the lever for a portion of itspossible movement. The finger bar will thus be swung upwardly part wayand will be retained in this partially elevated position. A link 65 isconnected with the latch lever 50 by means of the pin 50 which passesthrough the slot of the link 56 and is connected with a spring 66 whichspring makes it easier to swing the finger bar upwardly since it servesto draw upon the lever 50. It will be readily seen that the structure sofar provided permits the lever 50 to be moved a portion oi its movementby means of the lever 63 and further permits the lever 50 to be swungrearwardly without movement being imparted to the lever 63 due .to thefact that the link 56 has sliding engagement with the lever 50. hen itis only desired to move the finger bar upwardly a short distance andtemporarily retain it in this position,

I there has been provided a foot treadle 67 which is loosely connectedwith the plate and extends between the abutment lugs 68' carried by thisplate. Pressure upon the treadle will bring it into engagement with thelower lug and the plate will be moved to impart a slight raisingmovement to the sickle bar.

In addition to providing improved means for mounting and adjusting thefinger bar, there has been provided improved means for operating theknives. This operating means consists of mechanism for transmittingmovement from the shaft 13 to the knives and transforming the rotarymovement of the shaft 13 into reciprocating movement for the knives. Inorder to accomplish this there has been provided a triangular pitman orlever which may be constructed as shown in Fig. 3 or as shown in Fig. 5.In the form in Fig. 3, the pitman or lever 69 is in the form of atriangular frame including a diagonal bar 7 O which has one end portionscrewed into the socket 71 and its second end portion fitting into asocket 72v where it will be secured by a-pin passed through a selectedone of the openings 7 2 formedin the socket 72. The longitudinallyextending arm 73 of this lever extends beyond the socket and has its endportion provided with a bearing 74 in which is mounted a stem 75 havinga ball at its end which fits into the socket 76 of a bar 77 whichextends outwardly over the shoe 29 and is connected with a socket 78 ofa socket bracket mounted upon the inner end portion or head of the knifecarrying bar 30. The horizontally extending arm of the lever passesthrough a collar 7 9 and is pivotally mounted in this collar by pins 80so that the pitman will have pivotal movement in a vertical direction.This collar 7 9 is positioned between the two arms 81 which extend fromthe sleeve 1 and this collar is pivotally connected with these arms bypins 82 which serve to mount the lever for pivotal movement in ahorizontal direction. It will thus be seen that this lever is mountedfor universal movement and that with the pin 17 fitting into the socket83 of the lever and the shaft rotating, the lever will receive amovement which will impart horizontal swinging move- 6 v ment to the arm73 transversely of the mowing machine. Therefore, the bar 77 willreceive movement which will transmit reciprocating movement to the knifecarrying bar 30 and the knives will have the proper sliding movementalong the finger bar.

In the form shown in Fig. 5, the lever which is designated by thenumeral 84 is formed in two sections, one of which includes thetransversely extending arm 8 1 of the lever and diagonally extending arm84* thereof. The second section forms the longitudinally extending arm85 which has one end portion turned inwardly to provide a short arm 86which is pivotally connected with the transversely extending arm of thefirst section by means of a pin or bolt 87. This short arm is providedwith sockets 88 to receive the pins 82. It will thus be seen that inthis form, it is not necessary to provide the collar 79 sincethe'section which forms the longitudinally extending arm 85 thus beovercome and unnecessary strain upon the various parts of the machineprevented. If it is found that the knives are not cutting the hay orgrain at the proper height, the lever 47 can be moved to either raiseor'lower the forward edge of the sickle n of bar and the latch of thislever can then be brought into engagementwith the teeth of the rack 46.If it is desired to raise the fin ger bar slightly, the driver placeshis foot upon the treadle 67 and the treadle will be brought intoengagement with the lower lug 68 thus tilting the plate 60 and impartingmovement to the rocker shaft to move the lever 50 and through the mediumof the rod 5!: swing the sickle bar upwardly a short amount. If it isdesired to swing the finger bar upwardly to greater extent and retain itin the raised position while turning at the end of a field, the latchlever 63 will be grasped and drawn rearwardly until its latching teethcan enter the latch 64:. This will cause the rocker shaft to be rotatedto a greater extent and the slotted strip or link 56 will'be drawn uponto swing the lever 50 rearwardly and thus swing the finger bar upwardlyfor approximately one-half its possible swing. The finger bar will beretained in this partially raised position until the latch lever 63 isreleased. If it is desired to swing the finger bar upwardly to its fullextent so that it can be held in this raised position while moving fromone field to an other, the lever 50 will be grasped and drawn rearwardlyits full extentuntil its latch can enter the notch -52. Since the linkor strip 56 is slotted, this lever 50 can be moved rearwardly withoutany movement being transmitted to the lever 63 or treadle 67. When thelever 50 is drawn rearwardly its full extent, the finger bar is swungupwardly to substantially a vertical position and will be retained inthis raised position where it will be out of the way and not liable tostrike fences or other obstructions in going through a gate-way or alonga road. As the machine moves across a field with the finger bar loweredand tilted to the proper position through adjustment of the lever 47.the shaft 2 will be rotated through the medium of the wheels 3 and thegear t will transmit rotary movement to the shaft 7. The gear 9 will berotated with this shaft 7 when the clutch 11 is in an operative positionand rotary movement will be transmitted to the shaft 13 so that thetriangular pitman will be rocked upon its pivot mounting and the arm 73or 85 of this pitman receives movement transversely of the machine toimpart reciprocating movement to the knives.

It will thus be seen that there has been provided a mowing machinehaving operating means for the knives which will be very effective inoperation. noted that there has been provided a mowing machine in whichthe finger bar can be readily swung upwardly and either allowed toimmediately return to a lowered position or releasably held in apartially or entirely raisedposition; It willbe furtheriioted thatthesh'o'e'iof the finger-bar ismount'ed in such It will be further amanner that-it can be tilted to raise or lowerits forward end portionand thus place the cutting knives at the desired angle and alsoat thedesired distance from the ground. It will also be noted that the draftevener is so mounted that the pull is applied to the forward end oftheshoe and thus the shoe braced and the machine protected'from injuryby side draft.'

I claimf 1. A moving machine comprising a frame, a yoke connected withthe frame for vertical tilting movement longitudinally of the frame," afinger bar connected with the yoke for vertical tilting movementtransversely of the frame, means for tilting the yoke and holding thesame in an adjusted position, lever means carried by said frame fortilting said finger bar upwardly to a raised position and releasablyholding'the finger bar fully raised,'-lever means having operativeconnection with the first lever means for imparting movement to thefirst mentioned lever means and partially raising said finger bar andreleasably holding the finger bar in a partially raised position, atreadle for imparting movement to the second lever for a portion of itspossible movement to slightly raise said finger bar, and means carriedby said frame for operating cutting knives carried by said finger bar.

2. The structure of claim 1 having the operative connection between thefirst and second lever means consisting of a rocker shaft having armextensions, a-draw link connecting one arm with the second lever and aslotted link pivotally connected with the second arm and being pivotallyand slidably connected with the first lever.

3. A mowing machine comprising a frame, a finger bar pivotally mountedfor vertical swinging movement transversely of the machine, a rockershaft having arm extensions, a latch lever having connection with thefinger bar forswingingthe finger bar verticaly, a link pivotally andslidably connected with the latch lever and pivotally connected with onearm of the rocker shaft, a second latch lever including a rack base, aplate pivoted to said base and having spaced abutment lugs, a draw rodconnecting the plate with the second arm of said rocker tending betweensaid abutment lugs.

4:. A mowing machine comprising a frame, a finger bar pivotally mountedfor vertical swinging movement transversely of the machine, a rockershaft having arm extensions, a latch lever having connection with thefinger bar for swinging the finger bar vertically, a second latchlever-carried by the. translated HSJViHg OPBFHtWQ onfi e tion with onearm of said rocker shaft, means connecting the second arm of the rockershaft with the first latch lever for imparting movement to the firstlever from the second lever but permitting the first lever to haveindependent movement, and auxiliary operating means for the second latchlever having connection with the same permitting movement of the leverindependent of the operating means.

5. A mowing machine comprising a frame, a finger bar pivotally mountedfor vertical swinging movement transversely of the machine, an operatingelement for swinging the finger bar to a completely raised po sition andlocklng the same in a raised position carried by said frame and havingconnection with the finger bar, a second operating element havingconnection with the first operating element to partially raise thefinger bar, the second operating element serving the finger bar in apartially raised position and an auxiliary operating element movably 1carried by the second operating element for imparting movement to thesame to slightly retain the finger bar in a raised position, the

first operating element being movable independently of the secondoperating element and the second movable independently of the auxiliaryoperating element.

6. A mowing machine comprising a frame including an axle carryingsleeve, a platform carried by said sleeve, a yoke having an upstandingarm at one end, a supporting plate having a side extension provided withhearing ears extending upon opposite sides of said yoke, attaching barscarried by said plate and connected with said sleeve, one of the barshaving an end portion extending through the ears and yoke to pivotallymount the yoke, a tongue carried by said platform, draft means carriedby said tongue and having connection with said yoke, a finger barincluding a shoe pivotally connected with said yoke, a knife bar carriedby said finger bar, a latch lever carried by said sleeve and havingconnection with'the arm of said yoke, a latch lever carried by saidsupporting plate and having connection with said finger bar, a latchlever carried by said platform and having operative connection with thefirst lever, and means for imto releasably lock parting reciprocatingmovement to said knife bar.

7. A mowing machine comprising a frame including a shaft-receivingsleeve, bearing arms extending from said sleeve, a driving shaftextending through said sleeve, adriven shaft rotatably mounted androtated from said driving shaft, a finger bar carried by said frame, aknife bar carried by said finfier bar, a triangular lever having an armextending transversely of the frame, 'an arm extending longitudinally ofthe frame from the transversely extending arm, sockets extending fromsaid arms, a diagonally disposed bracing arm having one end portionscrewed into the socket of the transversely extending arm and itsother'end portion fitting into the socket of the longitudinallyextending arm and releasably secured therein, a collar fitting about thetransversely extending arm and pivotally connected therewith, saidcollar being positioned between and pivotally connected with saidbearing arms, a headfor said driven shaft having a pin extendingeccentrically of the driven shaft and engaging the end of thetransversely extending arm of said lever, and a thrust bar pivotallyconnected with said knife bar and the forward end of the longitudinallyextending arm of said lever.

8. A triangular actuating lever for the knife bar of a mowing machine,saldlever having an arm for extending transversely of a mower frame andan arm for extending longitudinally of the mower frame from thetransversely extending arm, sockets extend ing from said arms, adiagonally disposed bracing bar having its end portions releasablysecured in said sockets, a collarfitting aboutsaid transverselyextending arm and placed thereon when said bracing bar is removed,fasteners passing through the side portions of said collar and engagingopposite sides of said transversely extending arm to pivotally mountsaid lever for vertical swinging movement, and fasteners carried by theupper and lower ends of said collar for passing through bearing elementsand pivotally mounting said collar.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

AUGUST s. CHRISTENSEN.

